Ted Cruz Congratulates The Real Victor Of The Presidential Election

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz paid his respects to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia by acknowledging that it was really him who emerged victorious after this month’s elections.

While speaking Friday at the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention, Cruz called Donald Trump’s election to the presidency a “revenge of the fly-over country.”

“President-elect Trump assured the American people that if elected, he would nominate a constitutionalist in the mold of Justice Scalia. So in a very real respect, Justice Scalia was on the ballot as well,” Cruz said at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. “Thanks to the historic victory we saw last week, it gives me immense pleasure to say the people have spoken and Justice Scalia has won as well.”

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Since his defeat in the Republican primary, there’s been speculation that Cruz would be nominated to the Supreme Court.

The Texas senator didn’t specify Friday if he desired to fill the vacant seat left by Scalia, instead noting, “What I will say is that history is long and can take unexpected paths.”

Trump has already released a list of 21 potential successors to Scalia, but of that list, a shorter list has been circulating around.

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“All the people who I know on the short list are going to be sympathetic to interpreting the Constitution according to its original meaning,” said Randy Barnett, a Georgetown law professor.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has had major disagreements with Cruz throughout the years, thinks Cruz would be a good pick if Trump desired to replace the Supreme Court vacancy in the mold of Scalia.

“Because you disagree with somebody doesn’t mean you take your disagreements to the point that you can’t recognize reality,” the South Carolina Republican told CNN Thursday. “Nobody can tell me Ted Cruz is not a constitutionally gifted, talented lawyer, because he is.”

Graham called Scalia a “great jurist who was probably the most conservative person on the court.”

When news of Scalia’s death broke in February, Cruz released a statement calling him “one of the greatest justices in history.”

“A champion of our liberties and a stalwart defender of the Constitution, he will go down as one of the few justices who single-handedly changed the course of legal history,” the statement said.

“As liberals and conservatives alike would agree, through his powerful and persuasive opinions, Justice Scalia fundamentally changed how courts interpret the Constitution and statutes, returning the focus to the original meaning of the text after decades of judicial activism. And he authored some of the most important decisions ever, including District of Columbia v. Heller, which recognized our fundamental right under the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms. He was an unrelenting defender of religious liberty, free speech, federalism, the constitutional separation of powers, and private property rights. All liberty-loving Americans should be in mourning,” Cruz added.